The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - People are not giving the Patriots a chance, the problem with the Lakers

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

Colin Cowherds looks at Super Bowl LX between the Seahawks and the Patriots and why people aren’t giving New England enough respect for the season they’ve had. He also discusses the Lakers loss to the Knicks and why their roster flaws will prevent them from contending for a championship  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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live in Los Angeles. It is Super Bowl Week. Is that Sam Darnel going to another Super Bowl? Welcome and it's the herd wherever you may be. However you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your

day. It's going to be back in L.A. So this is the one week of the year. where people come up to me, because I've been a public figure for a while, and everybody asks me the exact same question. Who do you like in the Super Bowl? And I've given the exact same answer to everybody. Well, Seattle's the better team, but I think I like New England.

Because I think what's happened is, I just saw a headline this morning. Sam Darnold, favorite to win MVP. Seattle is going to be the only team talked about for the next six, seven days. Even though New England was number two in scoring, number four in defense, and these are the two best point differential teams in the league. Seattle won New England, too. People are talking about it like it's going to be a blowout. And I think what happened is the Patriots lost to the Steelers and the Raiders in September,

and people stopped watching them play. They were in a lot of one o'clock Eastern windows. And remember what I kept saying when they lost early? J-Mac was crushing me. I said, you guys, you have to slow play this team. Fifteen new starters. They have to break it before they rebuild it. They were a mess.

I love their draft. They're going to have 50 new starters. Check back late October, early November. Then we can evaluate them. So starting Sunday, September 8, they go and play Carolina, a team that could have beaten the L.A. Rams twice, and they crush Carolina. Playoff Carolina. Blow their doors off. And I want to remind you, yes, their schedule, when you look at New England's schedule, it's almost worthy of a laugh. It's hard to find the good games. It is a lot of New Orleans, Tennessee, Cleveland, Jets, Atlanta, Giants, Baltimore without Lamar Jackson, kind of stuff. I mean, just to give you an example, it was the easiest schedule in the league.

Second easiest was Denver, and Denver played Green Bay, Houston, Philly, the Chargers twice, the Chiefs in Mahomes, and Reed twice, and they played the Colts already in the season did Denver, when Denver lost to the Colts because the Colts were actually good and they were healthy. So this is the easiest schedule I've ever seen. But here's the whammy. Seven of the last 10 Super Bowl champs have had a top 10 easiest schedule. This is not college football. Style points matter in the NBA, and they matter in college football.

Go back and look at teams who had top 10 easy schedules. The 2024 Eagles, the Chiefs, the Chiefs, before them, the Chiefs before them, the Rams before them. New England, this will be their third team with an easiest schedule. That's what happens when you play the Dolphins and the Jets twice a year. So I always look at this. Yes, I will admit New England has played 11 teams or 11 games against teams that fired their coach, which is outrageously enemic.

They've faced 11 games where a team fired a coach. coach. And yes, I'll admit, they beat the Chargers convincingly, but the Chargers had a bad O-line, and then they beat the Texans had three tornovers, but C.J. Stroud had more, and it was a blizzard. And then they faced a backup against Denver. And that was a blizzard, too. And I admit, it doesn't look pretty. But here's what I know. Starting with that Carolina game at the end of September, when all the free agents and rookies, there was a certain symmetry. They'd played together for a month. They've won 16 of 17 games. 16 of 17 games.

Head coach A, coordinator A, defense A, scoring output A, ownership A, close games, A. That's all I know. So everybody comes up, I keep saying, Seattle's the better team, but they're going to get all the love. It'll be a fire hydrant of Seahawk greatness until Sunday in kickoff. And I'm like, I know they didn't impress you. This is not college football. They've won 16 to 17 games. They're only loss in the last four months,

35, 31 to Buffalo. And many of you still think they got robbed by a bad call in Denver and should be in the Super Bowl. Here's Mike Vrable on why they're wearing the all-white uniforms in the game. For the home team, we get to choose guys like the white uniforms. I don't know with the white uniforms. There we go. Hope the tooth fairy comes tonight, too.

We'll be real excited. Meanwhile, yesterday, Knicks Lakers played. And it's interesting. The Knicks are 31 and 18. And I actually, they're on a six-game winning streak. I actually think the Knicks are not that far away.

I think the Knicks can play with almost anybody. They got a new coach. But at 31 and 18, I think they're close. And they've got several players, OG, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, McHale Bridges, that if you put them on the trading block, people would be interested in them. The Lakers are 29 and 19.

LeBron's 41, and when he and Luca are on the court together this season, they're on minus 70. They can't play together. Why? Because something I've been shouting from the beginning of the season. Do not be fooled by the Lakers. The Knicks are not fooling you. The Knicks fired a coach. They shouldn't have.

They brought in Mike Brown. He's a veteran. It's going to take him a while to figure it out. The Knicks fans wanted to jump off of one of those, you know, those New York, you know, Midtown buildings. Take a deep breath. New coach. The Knicks have a lot of elements that a lot of teams would like to have. O.G., you could trade them tomorrow.

McHale Bridges, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, even Kat can score against almost any big. The Knicks are not fools gold. But what you're watching with LeBron, I saw a stat this morning. Do you know who the three slowest defensive players in the league are? James Harden is number one. Do you know who number two is? LeBron. You know who number three is?

Luca. In the entire league, they have two of the three slowest players. What does that mean? It's roster construction. And when Austin Reeves comes back, it's going to be Fools Gold. The Lakers should have watched what Dallas did with Luca. When you have a star player who's a poor defender, and Luca is, Steph Curry, you surround him with Draymond Green, Clay Thompson in his prime,

Andre Iguodala, willing defenders, tough guys, bouncer at the bar to cover for your star. Rob Palinck and the Lakers have doubled down on Luca, just less talented. Austin Reeves, not super athletic, not a great defender. LeBron, 41, slow, can't defend. Oh, let's go get DeAndre Aiton, below average defender. They just keep adding players who are not athletic, fast, quick, and can defend. But when you go back to when Luca succeeded in Dallas, they had Daniel Jones, they had Gafford protecting the rim, they had the Duke rookie, oh, they were athletic. you've got to cover for Luca.

And I've said this before about Luca. When he came to the Lakers, I said, stop pretending he's LeBron. LeBron, Kobe, MJ in their prime, Duncan in their prime, Kareem in his prime, burdened their prime. These guys gave you maximum defensive effort. D. Wade in his prime.

Lucas Carmelo, a better version. It's never going to be in great shape for any extended period. He's not interested. Defense is a hobby. Sometimes he's into it, and then he loses patience or, interest. And so these new owners inherited this Laker situation. The Knicks record looks like the Lakers record. But when they play, you can see the clear

difference. They've got, oh, G's a defender. By the way, the Knicks realize Jalen Brunson's a below average defender. So they get guys who can defend. McHale Bridges, OG. Josh Hart, it gives you everything he's got. Right? They have. the kid, DeVincenza, who, by the way, done a great defender, great effort player. But they had to eventually move off him. Another great tough guy. So I'm watching this yesterday. And you see the records, and a lot of people would say, well, the Lakers have got it going,

because they've got the best player, Luca. But do the Lakers and the new owners realize, when you have Luca, you've got to build a wall of athletic defenders around him? and Austin Reeves and LeBron, that's not the answer. That is the opposite of the answer. Here's LeBron after the loss on playing potentially his last game at the garden. At the end of the day, everything has to come to end at some point. So no matter when it is, it's going to be like, I would never play again in Madison Square Garden.

I would never play again in certain arenas. I would never play again, period. So, I mean, at that point, you know, it doesn't matter. You're going to always miss it. You're going to miss the game in general. So it doesn't, this one will always have like a special place. in the journey because it is Madison Square Guard. All right, Jay Mack,

you've probably already made your bets. Usually in a Super Bowl, I have a strong definitive feel. I try to talk myself into stuff I shouldn't and out of stuff I shouldn't. And if somebody comes up today, I'll tell them again, Seattle's got the better team, but I think I like No England. I think you just dropped that Patriot stat on the fired coaches. I had to look that up.

I'm like, there's no way they have that many opponents that fired their coaches. That's insane, Colin. I've never heard anything like that. 11 games. The team they played, fire their coach. So last year, one of us got the Super Bowl right, Eagles and a Romp. I'll go Seattle by double digits in this way. Wow.

Well, you know, it would make me happy. Sam Darnold, of course. Well, yeah. I mean, I think it's well established. That's my guy. The executives told me you may need to take a day off of the parade. If Sam Darno wins it, you may need to go and see that bad boy, and I'll be like, fine.

I'll hold down the fourth. So coming up next, there's one thing, I always thought the Vikings were well run, and then they just unraveled and went sideways. What did we learn? What are the Minnesota Vikings? What did we learn from them firing this bright young GM after they gave them an extension, right? There is something to learn here. That's coming up.

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And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it. one of the early names of our band

before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say,

Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win

on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French, me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action. with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. There are certain things in a marriage you've got to get right. You can mess up a lot. You can forget a lot. You want to get the anniversaries right. Birthdays matter too. So this weekend, a quezzi adofo mensa is a very sharp, went to Princeton, Stanford, AnalyticsWiz.

We were told for years he was just this great young ascending general manager, and then he got fired. And people are trying to either rationalize it or explain it. And there's a reason he got fired because he let Sam Donald walk.

Folks, if you get the quarterback right, your owner forgets about a lot. And if you don't, they have long memories. Joe Douglas was the jet GM. He drafted two in a very short time,

two rookies of the year. Garrett Wilson and Soss Gardner and several other very good players. He bombed on the quarterback, Zach Wilson. He's out of work. Brandon Bean in Buffalo. Brandon Bean has no pro bowlers on defense. A couple

of really lean drafts. Maybe the worst receiving core in the league for Josh Allen, but here's what the owner of the bill said when he recently promoted Brandon Bean. Success

with the players. I think we've I don't know if anybody knows it in this room but Josh Allen wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this guy pushing and pushing and pulling a Houdini in that draft to get to the position where we could pick them.

So you know that was my decision. So everybody wanted Brandon Bean fired. And the guy who signs the check said, that guy, he got

me Josh Allen. And before Josh Allen, the bills were an irrelevant franchise. That owner, that billionaire, the bills are on Sunday night football and money night football and merchandise sales and playoff games. And he got the quarterback right.

So not only did they let Sam Darnold walk, but Sam now is with a very young team and a sharp GM. So the chances are you're going to be reminded every year you let Sam Darnold walk. The other thing is they had Daniel Jones in the building.

They let him go. They were very interested in Aaron Rogers, but reportedly Aaron was more interested than the Vikings than the Vikings were in him. So think about that. They had Donald in the building. Rogers was interested.

Daniel Jones was in the building, and they kept J.J. McCarthy. If he gets Darnold to stay, maybe he doesn't last another three to four years, but he's still employed. I read multiple stories. Well, people are saying he took too long of a paternity leave. That got him fired two weeks. It didn't take two months. Well, you know, he and Kevin O'Connell didn't always see eye-to-eye. Sean McVean, Les Sneed don't always see eye.

eye to eye. Sean Peyton and his GM don't always see eye to eye. You don't have to see eye all the time. You hope you have some symmetry in the working relationship. You don't have to get along with everybody. So if you have Daniel Jones in the building, he walks, you have Sam

Donald in the building, he's going to the Super Bowl, Aaron Rogers was interested, you weren't, and you take JJ McCarthy, who threw 23 games 11 and 12, you're getting fired. It's like being a surgeon. You can never amputate. the wrong leg, not even once.

You can make a lot of mistakes. Surgeons aren't perfect. It's, you know, it's science. There's a reason doctor's office is called a practice. It's not everything you know. There's things we do and don't know still about COVID. It's medicine. Not that you're making it up, but it's not always an exact science.

Right? Like draftings in in exact science. You can be a really average general manager. I was having this discussion this morning. John Lynch in San Francisco, because he signed off on Trey Lance, I think he'd be gone today if they didn't draft Brock Purdy in the seventh round. People forgot about Trey Lance very quickly once Brock Purdy came in and Shannon's like, I love this guy.

If Brock Purdy didn't get drafted and they passed on him, what, six times? The Niners right now are unwatchable. They're probably playing Kirk Cousins. So you can This guy went to Princeton. He went to Stanford. He was on Wall Street. He's really smart. He was great with analytics. He's a whiz kid.

He doesn't understand quarterback play. If you watch Darnell play and you watch J.J. McCarthy and you choose J.J. McCarthy, you got to figure out the thing that's the thing. J. Mack with the News. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, let's start with the Raiders.

They made big news over the weekend. Clint Kubiak will be their next head coach. That's become official, according to every reporter in the NFL. The deal won't be finalized until after the Super Bowl, but Kubiak has interviewed multiple times. I think this is a pretty damn good job. I actually, for the first time, since I can remember, I think they have the GM, the coach,

and by late April the quarterback. And I haven't been able to say that about the Raiders. I thought Pete Carroll would stabilize it, but I still thought they were a mess at quarterback. This league is overwhelmingly GM coach quarterback. I mean, you can have a lot of flaws, right? You don't have to be great everywhere. If you get the head coach right, the quarterback right,

and they also, I mean, they probably have to get another weapon, but they've got a couple of really interesting players. So I don't think I've been this positive about the Raiders. I don't think this is a stabilizing move. I think this is eventually a winning move. Because we both love Mendoza. And remember, Mendoza means five years of stacking your roster. So like the Bears did, even though it's a number one pick, you think, oh, you pay them a lot.

Look at the Bears' roster. I mean, Ben Johnson came in after they had already added, like, DJ Moors and said, give me Joe Tooney and Drew Dolman and Jonah Jackson. So you're going to get a very, very, they can go buy an offensive line with Fernando Mendoza. Yeah, they have the second most. kept space in the league. Yeah, so we both love Colton Miller left tackle.

Just go by the rest of the offensive line. Mendoza, Brock Bowers, draft. I don't think their defense is as bad as people say. I think the whole thing was a mess. There's not a ton of like blue chip talent on the defense after Crosby. There just isn't. There isn't.

No. No. But if you have to have one piece on your defense that works, it's a pass rusher. But you could go by left guard, center, right guard. You also need some weapons. Now, this draft is loaded with wide receivers. Listen, they're not going to make a leap.

By the way, the two teams in the Super Bowl were not in the playoffs last year. They're not going to make a New England leap. No. But they are going to make a New England roster improvement leap. This roster is going to be very good after that draft. There's going to be seven or eight really nice players. Just don't forget how bad New England was. They got Vrable, who's a good.

a person winner. Not disputing that. But when you have the second most cap space and you've got a free quarterback for four years, but you can add six to seven, like, I mean, high-end starters. Yeah. They should be able to nail the drafts. I mean, we're looking at an uptick and wins. That division is going to be very difficult next season.

Somebody's going to have to fall back because I think Raiders are probably, you know, with Mendoza, six-ish win team, seven maybe. Don't be lucky. We'll see how the schedule shakes out. Speaking of coaching hires, another one happened. Arizona made a move landing Rams O.C. Mike Lefleur on a five-year deal. Arizona had been targeting Kubiak and ultimately he picked Raiders, so they settled for LaFleur, who will replace Jonathan Gannon.

I actually think LaFleur's in a really good spot here. My hot take would be, you know, LaFleur's brother with the Packers had Malik Willis last year. Malik Willis is probably the best free agent quarterback. I totally. Could Arizona go grab? him and you've got the ready-made offense. Trey McBride, James Connor, Harrison, Wilson. What was interesting about the Cardinals this year, and again, outside of Arizona, people

didn't watch them. But you and I, this is what we do, we watch. They scored a lot of points. And we kept thinking, well, they have a defensive coach. Arizona was kind of explosive. And in fairness, Arizona, it's kind of a good division. Rams defense, Sala had the Niners defense, the Seahawk defense. So they were fairly productive.

I, again, if Matt Lefleur is smart, I imagine his brother's pretty bright. He comes from the Rams. So, I mean, McVeigh's tree, at least the offensive guys, Kevin O'Connell, Zach Taylor, I feel like they kind of know what they're doing. Arizona's a bit of a mess right now, not a Jets mess, but a mess. But you and I both believe the same thing. Offensively, they've got some really high-end players. They got better-skilled position players than a lot of teams.

Way more, way better skilled than the Raiders. I will say he was the O.C. for the Jets for a minute. he did have Zach Wilson at quarterback. I was not super impressed, but maybe he needed that run. Now he's back with McVeigh. I think there's a good hire by the Cardinals. Final story, Colin, is let's go to the New York Giants. Interesting development here in that John Harbaugh is looking for an OC,

and reports are indicating Cliff Kingsbury is near the top of the list, as well as Brian Callahan, who was with the Titans before he got bounced. I'm just curious about Kingsbury because I'm higher on him than most. I have been for years. I know you're not as high. He was very successful with Jaden Daniels in D.C. And now he's looking for another job. And I just, is it a lateral move to go in the division to the Giants? I don't feel, Kate.

So I like Kingsbury. The knock on him at Arizona as a head coach. He's not confrontation. What happened in D.C.? Adam Peters, the GM of Washington is confrontational. and Cliff Kingsbury felt he was bullied by it. That's the report I got, felt a little bit bullied. So my take is, is it really a great place for him to go to New York with the loudest media in this large media?

You don't need that. Yeah. So Kingsbury to me, maybe he's a college coach. I don't see him. We talk about this all the time. It's not about hiring a guy that's good with schemes. It's hiring a CEO that builds a culture. Nobody doubts Kingsbury's intelligence.

His work ethic, he's creative, he's a good guy, and he's good at his job. All those things have been what I've said about Lincoln Riley. The pushback has been, well, can Lincoln create a culture? Right now, we don't know. And that's the knock on Kingsbury. When it gets uncomfortable, he's sort of the opposite of a Vrabel. Like, he just not, he doesn't, that's not his personality. And so New York, to me, may not be a great fit.

He may not be a northeast, heavily scrutinized, loud media guy. He's a little more chill, laid back, dude. Much more chill. He'll have an opportunity to call plays in New York with Jackson Dart. And if they go to the moon with 10 wins and make the playoffs, I mean, Kingsbury could be in line for a head coaching job next year. So there is that opportunity. Where are you on Brian Callahan?

So he was really good with the Bengals and Burrough. Yeah. Goes to the Titans. I was optimistic. It was a flat out disaster. Again, I mean, another guy that was good at schemes, but not. CEO. Yeah, you read some of the stuff that was coming out of that locker room. It was not good. It was not good. So that's really changed in the NFL. Like, Vrable's not a scheme guy,

although he's smart enough to be good at schemes, but that's not his go-to. Same with the Harbaas. They're not scheme guys. So Shanahan, my knock on Shanahan, so let's say you get the scheme guy right. Like Andy reads a great scheme guy. He's also proven. He's a bottom-line guy. They're one of the only teams in the league that still has hard practices. Shanahan's a great scheme guy. My knock on him is, why doesn't he win coming from behind more? Because he's stuck to his play sheet. And Kyle gets stuck on the play sheet, and they have a bizarre number of comeback wins, bizarrely low.

And so we spend so much time, oh, this guy's schemes are great. McVeigh has good schemes. McVeigh is a culture builder. He's hard on the players, and simultaneously they love him. So with Kingsbury, they love him. But there's no sense that it's what happens when somebody goes sideways. He just lets it go. I've heard he has a hard time like owning difficult players.

That's the job now. J-MEC with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd-line news. So for years, I've said I think face of the league is overrated. I don't think you need a face of the league. In my lifetime, and I've been watching the NBA since 1972,

there really hasn't been a face of the league. I mean, magic was, bird was, LeBron was, Michael was, Steph was, but Tim Duncan was great. He wasn't face of the league. Kareem was great. He was too stoic. He wasn't face of the league.

I don't think you need it. It's great when you have it. but one of the reasons I think it's been difficult to create a face of the league over the last 10 years I mean, Steph Curry is still the most popular player today. Number two is

probably LeBron. And I believe there's a reason for this. The reason is that the NBA over the last 15 years treated college basketball like an enemy and college basketball is a free marketing platform. Instead,

they put their arms around the witness protection program otherwise known as the G League or Ignite G or G ignite irrelevant. Nobody, there's never been a single NBA top jersey seller 25 years out of the G league. It's an arenas you don't want to go to with coaches you've never heard of in cities that you would hope your car doesn't break down in. The G league's always been overplayed. The face of the leagues have mostly been going to guys that we fell in love with. We fell in love with magic, right? Now, you could say, well, what about LeBron?

He didn't play college. LeBron's arguably the single greatest prospect in league history. But the leagues become very European, so we don't watch those players when they're 17, 18, 19, and fall in love with them. And then the one and done culture is, well, a lot of these guys go to Europe. They go to the G League. Cooper flag now. And I don't know if he's going to be face of the league. but he outplayed and dominated Kevin Durant this weekend

and he went to Duke and the reason we all wanted to watch Cooper Flagg is we watched them in college we heard about him from Maine he was one of our guys that went to a Duke or a Kansas or a Yukon so I don't know if he's going to be face of the league but I will tell you

for a long period of time the NBA was anti-college basketball And this is another reminder how valuable college basketball and March is to the NBA. It's where we get introduced. So I've watched Cooper Flagg over the last week playing the two most talked about games in the league. And Dallas isn't any good. And he just turned 19 years old. I'm telling you, if he played in the G League, we wouldn't care.

Jalen Green was going to change the league. He went to the G League, invisible, anonymous, witness protection. So statistically, if you look at where he is in Jersey sales and where he is in numbers, you know who it reminds people of? M.J. and By the way, I'm old enough. I fell in love with Bird at college, Indiana State Sycamores. MJ, I fell in love with him at Carolina. I'm not saying everybody has to come from that route.

But there is such incredible value of embracing college, basketball. And I don't think it's shocking that Cooper Flagg went to Duke, and the kid at Charlotte, his roommate, went to Duke, and this draft, the first 11 players, they all played, I think 10 of 11, played college basketball. So, and his team's bad. But this is the second time in a week we've talked about Cooper Flag. And, you know, people, it's Jason, kids, one of the all-time great point guards. he's gotten a lot of flack on playing Cooper Flag

who's like six, nine and a half at point guard, and he talked about it this weekend. That's how he's built. He's built to win. He's going to try to do everything to help his team win, and he's done that all season. And so I've built players, so I know what the...

So to take criticism, it only makes me better. Because if I wasn't doing it right, you guys wouldn't be poking holes at whatever. gone. So Mark Few was recently quoted saying the best path to the NBA is college basketball, better coaching. You go to a college campus and you're surrounded by people you wouldn't normally be surrounded by. It's a little uncomfortable. The crowds are electric. When you're playing, when you're playing at Carolina or Kansas or did you watch the Michigan, Michigan State game, when you're playing games like that and the intensity of the crowd, that's like NBA basketball.

The G league's not. The G league is not. The G. is just, you know, gyms with nobody in him. So I think Cooper Flagg, I don't know if he's going to be face of the league, but I think I look at the last two drafts. I look at this draft coming up, the Peterson kid at Kansas,

especially, college basketball is backed, the domestic star is back. There's nothing wrong with international players, but most of them don't really have an interest in dealing with the media, selling shoes. That's not who they are. They want to hoop it and go back to Europe.

So I think this is a tremendous, tremendous week for the NBA on what Cooper Flag is doing. And I'm not somebody who just started ranting on this. I said it for years. You couldn't get me to watch a G-League game if my car broke down and it was right next to the gas station. I wouldn't watch the game. And I like basketball. I don't care. Duke's on, every time Duke's on and the game's at Cameron Indoor, every single time,

or a Michigan State is at home. And there's a big game. And it's on my TV. I stop and watch it. That's how I get introduced to all these guys. Colin Wright, Colin wrong, top of next hour. And the NFL made a tweet because it's what they do. And it again paid off.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast. podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys. remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand, because I, competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down

everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenschen win. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The Great American Race returns with back-to-back champion William Byron looking for a historic repeat.

Does it get bigger than this? The 68th running of the Daytona 500, February 15th only on Fox. How'd you like the NBC NBA coverage? How'd you like that? I thought that was spectacular yesterday. Yeah. Two really good games. They went old school.

Old school, yeah. They got Costas doing the monologue, the narrative to start. Got you fired up. Yeah, and we already know the Michael Jordan stuff. So I sound critical of the NBA. I love NBA playoff basketball. I have said for a long time, I think the NBA has an issue. I'll give you an example.

I saw a story. And this is pretty instructive. So the NFL, 74% of NFL kickoffs were returned this year. Last year it was 32%. So the NFL tweaked PATs. They said it's boring. They keep tweaking the kickoff. So the strength of the NFL, well, they only play once a week.

Well, college football only plays once a week, and it's not half as popular as the NFL. I mean, college football couldn't figure out their playoff until, the network stepped in. The NFL does such a great job of tweaking their product. It can be the catch rule, the PAT, the kickoff. And I really appreciate this. They're not arrogant. Even though it's the dominant number one TV show in America for 25 years running,

they're never arrogant. They're not one of the, you know, this is not like, oh, people like get, they stop paying attention. And I'll give an example. So baseball, and maybe it's the people that cover it are a little precious sometimes. Baseball can be a little northeast and a little snooty and a little high-minded. They got so arrogant for 30 years. And that's why I've defended Rob Manfred, the commissioner. He's like, we're speeding up the game with a pitch clock.

Go try and watch a baseball game from seven years ago. It's unwatchable. The game was so slow. Oh, I could not get through three innings. I watched baseball games all summer the last two years. The playoffs have been unbelievable, gripping. I've watched more baseball than NBA in the last two years. Why?

Because they kept, Rob Manfred came in, and all the tweaks have worked. All of them. Don't listen to traditionalists. They're going to be watching. Don't listen to baseball traditionalists. Get watchable. So I've said this about the NBA. And this is why NBC's coverage is interesting.

So NBC is bringing back people from a bygone era. Why? Because that's when you loved the NBA. And one of the reasons you love the Pistons and the Bulls and the Lakers because of the physicality. Why? Because it was a mid-range game. So remember the playoffs this past year? J-Mack and I were really into the playoffs.

They were very physical. Why? because in the playoffs the games get more physical the refs swallow the whistle we love that physicality we love when players care because be honest if you're playing a basketball game

at the Y or in the NBA and you're on my you know what you're bumping me and I'm pissed off that's better competition than me coming down and jacking a three so the NBA has a very repetitive problem the three point shot eliminates

a lot of physicality gets very repetitive. So this is a super athletic league. I can shoot a three. That's not athleticism. Athleticism is a crossover finishing at the rim. That's athletic. So I've had this theory is that even though we looked at baseball

as stuck in the past, they made six very progressive moves they've all paid off. The NFL is constantly tweaking. You see this year's kickoff. So I've always said in basketball, you can keep

giving me reasons that the NBA's not popular. It's that Barclay show. They're too critical. It's too international. But yet we loved the playoffs because it was physical. And it wasn't repetitive. Because everybody's mid-range games, any great NBA player has a different mid-range game.

A three is a three. I catch and shoot, shoot it, they all look the same. So I've always had a belief on what the NBA's got to do. One major tweak. They think it's the NBA Cup. That ain't it. Oh. Here we go.

Here we can. Now, it's not that different. I'm sorry to the radio audience. The minute the three-point shot goes into the corner, you can't defend it. And so teams cater to it. We have had, listen to this, the staff went and found this this morning. That's my shot, you know, in basketball. The corner three.

It's the best shot in basketball. Especially for short guys who can't play. So that would be the shot you would take. Well, Chad Holmgren lines up and he's 6-11, just shoots him all the time. So eliminate that. What does it do? It's easier to defend the three because you've eliminated the corner three. What does that mean?

I'm going to try to beat you off the dribble and get closer to the basket. So this does two things that are harmful. It takes centers away from the basket. Those are collisions. I want those collisions. Centers have to go guard the corner. It takes Chet Holmgren and Wemby out of the paint. I want him in the paint.

I want a guy going right at Wemby and dunking on him. You ever notice when you show highlights of the NBA, how often it's Jordan jamming over Ewing? It's not threes. It's all those physical plays. Jordan's pushing. Jordan dunking, running for the ball. That's what people love.

This is not soccer with flopping. We like physicality. So if you eliminate the corner three, it makes the other threes easier to defend. Right? Then the three-point shooters don't get the as many easy looks. You have to take people off the dribble, drive to the basket. That's where physicality ensues, collisions ensued, more dunks at the rim, more animosity, a few more fights. I mean, I say what you want. People like, the bench is clear.

That's okay once a week. I don't want malice in the palace, but I miss the physicality. So what's funny to me is baseball was seen as a sport that was set in its ways. They made six brilliant moves. Basketball's always been seen as the progressive sport, almost liberal. And they're stuck. They won't tweak the three-point shot. Listen to this. Hold on.

I got to find this number. I can't even believe this number. I mean, the analytics say the corner three is one of the best shots in basketball because it spaces the floor. Oh, great, great. Last year, 390 games. games, 390 games. There were 80 or more threes. A decade ago, one. Wasn't a decade ago the time we loved the NBA? Well, we were watching the dynasty with the warriors. Isn't that funny? Caves Warriors? 380 games. 80 or more threes. So you're taking the most athletic league and you're making it unathletic.

anybody can come up the court, catch and shoot a three. That's a big one, taking away the corner three. I will say your point about the physicality. One thing that hurt the NBA last year with the playoffs is because you don't call a lot of fouls during the season. And then all of a sudden in the playoffs, you're doing the opposite. It's like, well, wait a wait, what are we doing? There was no like announcement that, hey, we're going to call it.

The NBA playoffs. They didn't do that. There's always a reason. men win in the postseason, young men win a lot in the regular season. Because men in the postseason, they swallow the whistle. So it's the bigger, stronger, more physical players that win in May and June. The kids, Jalen Green will have great games in January. Nobody's calling anything.

Or they are calling things. When you get to the postseason, it becomes physical. The ratings go up. and the older players and the mid-range game has more value. I know people get bored with me talking about this, but I'm watching all these tweaks in the NFL, and I'm watching all these tweaks in baseball, and the ratings are through the roof and my take is basketball.

You're the progressive league. You're the athletic league. Tweak your game. NFL did with the kickoffs literally double the number of kickoff return. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin.

And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite on humor. me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the franchise, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcasts

for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French name. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerner-Rabachina is arguably the best player in the world right now and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcasts on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart World. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.